Form-fitting bra-slip



June 26, 1951 R. s. D'AMATO 2,558,420

FORM-FITTING BRA-SLIP Filed May 14, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVIENTOR. POSflP/A Saw z 0/4/24 70 1477 O/P/VE V June 26, 1951 R. s. D'AMATO 2,558,420

FORM-FITTING BRA-SLIP Filed May 14, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENZOR. I Pom/1%; 5/2012 54/2470 June 26, 1951 D'AMATO 2,558,420

FORM-FITTING BRA-SLIP Filed May 14, 194'? 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

June 26, 1951 s, DAMATO 2,558,420

FORM-FITTING BRA-SLIP Filed May 14, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 2i :1. l E].

JNVENTOR.

xPOSfiP/A 640m" 014/2470 Patented June 26, QSl

U NITED TA TES PATE N T 2;55s,420

FORM-F ITTINGBRA-SLIP Rosaria ssayeb'umato, Jackson Heighten;

Application May 14', 1947, Serial No."748,067

1 This invention relates to a combination form fitting brassiere and slip, otherwise knownas a bra-slip. A bra-slip is a foundation and undergarment whose upper portion is a brassiere for molding and supporting the breasts and whose lower portion is a skirt dependent from the brassiere, said brassiere and skirt thusforniing a single article of apparel which is designed to lit and conform tothe contour or curves of the body, particularly the upper portion of the torso, thereby enhancing the modelled appearance of the outergarment agreeably to the dictates of modern style. v

Slips are usually made of delicate materials which are relatively inelastic so that they are easily torn along the seams, particularly'when the material is tailored on the straight. Closefitting slips have been out on the bias thereby using the stretch of the bias cut fabric to reduce the risk of tearing at the seams. A garment fabricated from sections of materialicut on the bias, has a naturalteiid'enoy if stretched, to sag, twist and ride up the figure. oreover a bias-'- cut garment is difficult to launder be'oauseto prevent distortion of the malaria and therefore or the shape or the garments is important to iroilthe fabric-oh the straight. garment out on the bias requires more" material than?) Similar garment cut on the straight, hence garments cut on the bias are more c 'ostly'to produce,

One objector this invention is a form-fitting slipwhich constitutes foundation garmntand has'hody "control characteristics; I g p y Another object is "a fofm fittihglil 'a slip which drapes the torsoin superior fashion thus bringing out thebest lines of thewea'rer,

Another object is a slip which can be slipped on over the shoulders and bust yet which is inherently torso form-fitting.

Another object is a form-fitting slip which is straight-cut inthe front below the waistline to prevent riding, sagging or twisting.

Another object is a bra-slip which fits the contours ofthe torso properly, and hangs smoothly without visible seams of fullness or folds so that no ridges are created to mar the eye appearaince of a closely-fitting outergarment.

Another object is to substantially reduce the risk of tearing the garment when by sitting or stooping the wearer substantially increases the strain across the seat of the garment. Another object is a bra-slip havinga-one-piece skirt panel which is so cut as to eliminate side seams andwhich drapes'the fabric atthe center backinbias formation to provide sufficient give when the wearer stoops or sits.

'rolaims. (e1. 2 73) 2 t Another object is to so utilize elastic material in the upper portion of the garment as to effect form-fittingof the garment in all movements of the wearer. L I W W Another object is a fastenerless form-fitting bra-slip which can bereadily removed. Another object is the elimination of a separate brassiere. y V to Another object is to so; pombine a brassiere, and

" slip in a single form-fitting garment as to eliminate the use of fasteners. u

Another object is to so combine aprassiere and slip as to visibly retain the f qrrn-fittingglines normally produced by the conventional brassiere.

Another object is an improved iorm fittingbra slip which automatically aocommodatesitself to the contours of thehQdy of the wearer and to the wearersmoyemen ts. I H M Anotherobject is a form -fitting bra slip which is simple in sfi si enrnle s n nenp e an ei economical to manufacture and which alw YS retains correct form-fitting position on idy with perfect comfort-andfreedom of movement to h r- V Other objectswill appear from the detailed de scription wh lie l s- A ic r tnresef th ni q i he m t. f a tr htreut sh P el Wi h eliminates. s de ms. and ;Wh is9 .r 't f m t skirt by mer se m ng. the. fiil e l back line on the bias. The terms fstraight and straight-cut as used herein, mean that the warp threads of the fabriefrom which the gar ment is made, are arranged longitudinally 9r transversely with respect to the length of the garment as distinguished from the so ,call e cl bias-cut in-which the warp threads arepbligue to the length of the garment. Thegarment so fashioned as to minimize any tendency to stretch lengthwise to sag, to hike up, or t i m- Pair the e i que esnf thes rmsni-M Straight-cutmaterial is employed in a unique manner to proclmae a torso-f tting garment which automatically accommodates itself to any n e s he-t qn u sg ihe hoqt i h riei comfort and freedom of movement, and which can e p d-Q1 Q T:.9 ..ll ..h perfe as I the awiees xn s e rshe we es figures, numbered Figs, l to 10 inclusive, one practical qdim ntg he n e mr s Fig. l is a front viewof thebra-slipas modeuedf t .s a

Fig. 2 is a rear yiewof the same; W p l p Fi 3 is a-D C$D Q1 VQ viewe h un e p tion of the bra-slip form-fitted to a torso;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the same;

Fig. 5 is a side view of the upper portion of the bra-slip form-fitted to a torso;

Fig. 6 is aback view of the same;

Figs. 7 and 8 show the patterns of the breast pocket sections;

V Fig. 9 shows the pattern of the elastic back panel; and

Fig. 10 shows the pattern of the skirt panel.

Like references designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In cutting the panels or sections of the slip, patterns of the skirt panel 26 (Fig. 10), of the right breast pocket (Fig. 7 and of the left breast pocket (Fig. 8) are placed upon the piece of material from which the garment is to be cut, so that the patterns occupy the position with respect to the selvage edges of the material which they occupy with respect to the running edges of the drawing, in which position the arrow lines 21 (Fig. 10) will be parallel with the warp threads of the woven material so that the panels, when out out, will be straight-cut. The curved edge 28 will define the bottom hem line of the skirt panel 23 and the edges 29-29, are cut obliquely with respect to the selvage edges of the material. The skirt panel 26 is circled by bringing th right upper back and left upper back skirt seam points 41 and 48 together with the edges 2929 in alignment, and the center back skirt seam 45 (Fig. 2), is formed by stitching a line of stitches 5| through both plies of the circled material in spaced relation to the running edges 29--29 (Fig. 10').

The right breast pocket 23 may be formed by stitching the center edges 39 and 43 (Fig. 7) of the inner and outer breast sections 35 and 40 to form the center pocket seam 44 (Figs. 3 and 4). The left breast pocket 24 is similarly formed by sewing the corresponding center edges of the inner and outer left breast sections 36L and 40L (Fig. 8).

The back panel 22 (Fig. 9) is cut from a length of suitable elastic material, so that the back panel 22 will stretch in at least one direction, namely transversely. An elastic material adapted to stretch both lengthwise and crosswise may also be used. The panel 22 is cut so that its edges 32 will correspond to the outer under breast curvatures of the left and right breasts, respectively. The upper edge of the panel 22 may be cut straight and hemmed over with a line of stitching 52 to give a straight back line 35 and the lower edge of the panel is cut on the line of a reverse curve to include the waist front portion 33 and the lower center back curvature 34. r

The right breast pocket 23 is secured to the elastic back 'panel 22 by stitching the outer breast under curvature edge 42 of outer breast section 40 to the under breast curvature 32 of the back panel with a line of stitching 53. The edge of the outer breast section 40L of the left breast pocket 24 is similarly attached to the edge of the under breast curvature 32 (Fig. 9) to partially assemble the brassiere portion of the garment. The edges of the armholes 4| and of the neck line 31 may be hemmed over or otherwise suitably finished by lines of stitching 5B and 51.

To finish the garment assembly, the elastic back panel 22 and the breast pockets 23 and 24 are so attached to the skirt 2| that: the lower center backcurvature 34 and the waist front portions 33-33 of back panel 22 (Fig. 9) and the edges 38 of the right and left breast pockets 23 and 24 are united to the skirt 2| at the hoop line 46 by lines of stitching 54 and 55, with the upper center front point 3| of the upper section 30 of skirt panel 26 adjoining the neck line 3i of each breast pocket 23, 24; and the edges 4| merge with and form a continuation of the straight back line 35, and in conjunction therewith, complete the armholes of the garment (Fig. 3).

Suitable shoulder straps 25-25 may be attached at spaced points to the upper edge 35 of the elastic back panel 22, and to the upper points of the breast pockets 23 and 24 to complete the bra-slip which ,will have the general appearance of the garment modelled in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

The under curvatures 3B and 42 in conjunction correspond to the under curvature of the breast and the center pocket seam 44 will be in alignment with the vertical axis of the breast, so that when the shoulder straps 25 are correctly adjusted, the breast pockets 23 and 24 will correctly support the breasts in the position of normal posture. The upper portion of the garment from the back line 35 to a line substantially midway between the waistline and the approximate hip line 50 should be smaller than the torso for which it is designed, so that the elastic back panel 22 will be stretched slightly and thus placed under sufiicient tension to correctly separate the breast pockets 23 and 24 in the position of normal posture and to retain the upper section 30.0f the skirt 2| form-fitted to the midriiT when the garment/is worn. The skirt 2| is thus form-fitted to the torso both above, at, and below, the waistline, to a line approximating the approximate hip line 50 (Fig. 6). The skirt 2| drapes and flares outwardly and downwardly from the approximate hip line 50, to impart modish lines to the lower portion of the garment.

The lower extremity of the center back curvature 34 extends to the approximate position of the hip line50, and the hoop line 46 encircles the body from the upper back skirt seam points and 4B which approximate the hip line passing upwardly around the waist and crossing the waist line in the region of the waist front portion 33-33 (Figs. 4 and 5), and tapering to the point 3| which is approximately one-inch above the horizontal axis of the breasts.

The opening in the garment defined by the hoop line 46-46, and the opening in the garment at'the approximate hip line 50, are purposely designed to be. slightly larger than the shoulder line 49 (Fig. 6), so that when the garment is slipped on or off, each of the said openings will be large enough to pass over both the bust and the shoulder lines. The elastic back panel 22 will stretch sufiiciently in a crosswise direction in the region of the waistline to permit the bra-slip to clear the bust and shoulders when slipped on or off.

The panel 26 (Fig. 10) is straight-cut as indicated by the lines 21 which represent the direction of weave of either the warp threads or the cross threads, dependent upon whether the skirt panel 26 is cut lengthwise or crosswise of the fabric. As the skirt panel 26 is substantially sector-shaped, the oblique edges 2929 are cut on the bias, so that when the skirt panel 26 is circled and stitched at 5| to form the center back skirt seam 45, either the warp threads or the cross threads, as the case may be, are brought together in bias formation at the center back seam' 5|. By this construction, the front of the skirt panel 26 is straight cut while the rear of said panel, particularly in the region of the seat, is in bias formation, the warp or cross threads of the fabric diverging outwardly on "either side of the center back skirt seam 45, in the form of an inverted V.

The direction of the warp or cross threads, as indicated by the lines 21, commencing in the region of the imaginary right and left side lines 58 and 59 gradually changes from a straight-cut to a bias-cut, and the extent of the bias increases in the direction of the oblique side edges 29, to effect a substantial bias formation at the center back skirt seam 45 particularly in-the regionof the seat where the garment is subjected to maximum transverse strain and substantial stretch of the fabric is therefore required.

Since the front of skirt 2I is straight-cut, it can not be distorted as by riding up or sagging in front, and since the fabric is draped at the center back skirt seam 45 in bias formation, the seat of the garment will stretch when subjected to transverse strain.

,A bra-slip constructed in accordance with this invention is therefore not only a completely closed torso-fitting garment devoid of all fasteners, adapted to slip on and off freely, but is also so tailored as to possess all of the advantages of both a straight-cut and a bias-cut garment, without the disadvantages inherent in a garment which is out either straight or on the bias.

By utilizin a skirt panel 26 out from a single piece of material and circling said panel to form the skirt of the bra-slip, side seams in the skirt are entirely eliminated and the skirt 2| may be formed by joining themarginal edges 29 to form the center back skirt seam 45.

Whati's claimed is:

1. A bras-slip comprising an upper section and a skirt section, said upper section including adjoined breast pockets anda'back panel'of elastic material, the bottom edges of the lower halves of said breast pockets being continuously and divergently curved to correspond substantially to the curvature of the diverging basal lines of the lower portions of the breasts when normally positioned, said back panel having, a straight top edge, oppositely concavely curved side edges cut to conform to the curvature, and joined to the outer edges, of, said breast pockets, and a bottom edge merging with said side edges and curving inwardly and downwardly therefrom to form two balanced convex curves and two balanced concave-convex 8 curves in continuation of said convex curves, said 8 curves merging together at the central back to define a centrally disposed inverted bell-shaped projection extending downwards to the region of the hip line, shoulder straps secured to the breast pockets and to the elastic back panel to complete said upper section, said skirt section being fashioned from one piece of material cut on the straight in front and having equally and oppositely biased upwardly converging side edges, said material being circled to bring said side edges together, said side edges being joined together to complete the skirt section and form the central rear vertical seam thereof, the upper edge of said circled skirt section forming the upper hoop line opening, said upper hoop line opening being curvilinear and defining an upwardly extending inverted-V-shaped front central skirt portion, two balanced convexo-concave S shaped side and back portions in continuation of said front central portion, said back portions merging together at the rear seam to define an inverted bell-shaped recess in said skirt section extending to the region of the hip line thereof, the upper edge of the skirt section being secured to the bottom edge of the upper section so that the front central skirt portion registers between the adjoined breast pockets, the inverted bell-shaped projection of the back panel registers in the inverted bell-shaped recess in the skirt section, and the S shaped portions of the skirt section register with the oppositely curved 8 portions of the bottom edge of the elastic back panel to close said upper hoop line opening, said elastic back panel stretching crosswise when the garment is worn and in conjunction with the shoulder straps causing the pockets to uplift the breasts and retain them in normal postural position, and said back panel being further stretchable within its elastic limits to enlarge the garment in the re. gionof the waist line sufficiently to allow the garment to clear the bust and shoulders when slipped on or off.

2. A bra-slip comprising a form fitting bodice, and a skirt depending from said bodice, said bodice including adjoine'd form fitting breast pockets and a back panel Of elastic material, the bottom edges of the lower halves of said breast pockets being continuously and diver-gently curved to correspond substantially to the curv'a ture of the diverging basal lines of the lower portions of the breasts when normally positioned, said back panel having a top edge, oppositely concavely curved side edges cut to conform to the curvature of the outer edges of said breast pocketsand two bottom edges, each bottom edge curving downwardly, then inwardly, then down- Wardly, then inwardly again, said bottom. edges in conjunction thereby forming a centrally .disposed inverted bell-shaped elastic tab, said side edges being joined to the outer edges of said breast pockets to circle said bodice, said elastic tab projecting down the center back of the bodice to the region of the hip line, the skirt being fashioned out of material cut on the straight in front with a curved bottom edge, upwardly and inwardly converging side edges lying on equal and opposite biases of the material, and upwardly and inwardly extending curved top edges, said top edges being shaped to correspond in reverse to the curvature of the bottom edge of the circled bodice, so that when said skirt material is circled to bring its side edges together to form a skirt and the central rear seam thereof, said top edge will include a centrally disposed inverted V-shaped frontal tab which registers between the breast pockets, an inverted bellshaped recess aligned with the rear seam and extending to the region of the hip line for receiving said elastic tab, and other portions extending between said frontal tab and said recess which register with the remaining portions of the elastic bottom edge of said bodice, the edges of the skirt and bodice when thus mated being secured together to complete the bra-slip, said elastic back panel stretching crosswise, when the garment is worn, to mold the breast pockets to the figure and retain the breasts in normal postural position, and said back panel being further stretchable without xceeding its elastic limits to enlarge the bodice sufiiciently to allow the garment to pass over the bust and shoulders.

3. In a bra-slip and in combination a pair of adjoined form fitting breast posturing pockets, an elastic back panel extending between the op-- the bottom edge of the bodice, said bottom edge defining oppositely disposed symmetrical curves,

said curves beingconvex in front, crossing the waistline near the sides of the bodice, and then curving downwards to merge in the region of the 1 hip line and form a centrally disposed elastic tab, a skirt fashioned out of one piece of material cut on the straight in front having upwardly converging side edges lying on equal and opposite biases of the material, said material being circled to bring said oppositely biased side edges into abutment, said side edges being joined together to form the central rear seam of the skirt and to complete the hoop line opening at the top edge thereof, the top edge of the skirt being shaped so that said hoop line opening corresponds in reverse to the shape of the bottom edge of the bodice, said top edge having an inverted V-shaped front central tab registering in the opening between the diverging lower edges of the pockets of the bodice, and a recess for receiving the elastic tab, the remaining portions of the top edge of the skirt also registering with the remaining portions of, the elastic bottom edge of the bodice, said edges when th-us arranged in cooperative registry beingstitched together to complete the bra-slip, said elastic back panel stretching crosswise when the garment is worn to mold the torso tothe bodice to eifect normal postural position of the torso, and said back panel being further stretchable within the elastic limits of the elastic back panel to enlarge the garment in the region of the waistline to clear the bust and shoulders whenever the garment is slipped on or off.

a 4. In a bra-slip and in combination, a pair of adjoined breast posturing pockets, an elastic back panel extending between and secured to the oppositely disposed outer side edges of said pockets to fashion a circled form fitting bodice, the diverging lower edges of said-pockets and the bottom edge of said elastic back panel in conjunction completing the hoop line opening at the bottom edge of the bodice, said bottom edge defining cppositely disposed symmetrical curves, said curves being convex in the front of the bodice, concave at the sides of the bodice and then curving downwards tomerge in the region of the hip line at the central back to form a centrally disposed elastic tab, a skirt fashioned out of one piece of material cut on the straight in front and having upwardly converging side edges lying on equal and opposite biases of the material, said material being circled to bring said oppositely biased side edges into abutment, said side edges being joined together to formthe central rear seam of the skirt and to complete the hoop line openingat the top edge thereof, the top edge of the skirt being shaped so that the hoop line opening thereof corresponds in reverse to the shape of the hoop line opening at the bottom edge of the bodice, so that the top edge of the skirt and the bottom edgeof the bodice when brought together in position of alignment co-operate to provide a foundation for a joint, said edges when thus positioned being joined together to complete the bra-slip and form the hoop line opening of the garment, said elastic back panel stretching crosswise when the garment is Worn to mold the torso to the bodice and the bodice to variations in contour of 7 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,221,851 Teamer Nov. 19, 1940 2,292,982 Wood Aug. 11, 1942 2,427,041 Bishop Sept. 9, 19.47 2,427,868 Manson Sept. 23, 1947 

